31 Mar 2014

Hello & happy Monday Cleveland! What a bizarre weather weekend we had? I know I tend to banter about the snow, not snow, blue skies and so forth but come on; this was for sure a weird one. So glad to see the sunshine on Sunday, seemed to even out the Saturday snow storm. Fingers crossed that’s the end now SPRING can arrive?

This past weekend we had the pleasure of taking a Cleveland “Staycation” downtown at the Ritz Carlton Cleveland. It was a truly pampering, overnight getaway that if you ever have the opportunity to splurge on you won’t be disappointed. We planned to stay at the Ritz during the Film Fest as a way to go back and forth between movies and have a place to both relax and escape the festival crowds. I have to say not having to park and rush to a movie was so so nice, plus we left our winter coats in the room which was even more awesome.

The Ritz embraced the Film Festival as part of their weekend floral arrangement decor and other small touches around the hotel. Check out the pretty orchids atop the film reel canisters, so pretty.

We were lucky enough to have a room on the 14th floor, Club Level which included amazing snacks and treats (see candy/cookie bar below) and the most friendly staff I have ever encountered.

We saw a 1:00 movie (Ping Pong Summer; it was “rad”) and then came back to our home-away-from-home to relax a bit. We had 4:00 tickets to go up to the Terminal Tower Observation Deck but with the snowstorm you couldn’t see much; we will have to go back for sure. We hit up the Horseshoe Casino complete with a (virgin) Pina Colada, “Jacks or Better” and my new favorite slot machine, Monopoly. We saw a 7:00 film (2 Autumns, 3 Winters) and then headed back to our room for a late night room service dinner.

When we got back to the hotel, the whole place was lit by candlelight; it was very romantic. In order to celebrate Earth Hour the Ritz had turned off (or down) their lights in all of the lobbies and even in our room. They had left a little LED rubber ducky on our pillow along with a few chocolates as a nod to the special hotel event.

We ordered room service and watched another in-room movie before calling it a night.

Oh and check out this AMAZING treat tray they brought up with room service. It was a print out of ME on the tray covered with clear poured sugar and floating truffles to say “hello & welcome!” Truly the coolest welcome I have ever received at a hotel.

While I didn’t order any dessert, because the chocolate truffles were PLENTY. I did note the nod to our local ice cream boys, Mitchell’s Homemade Ice Cream on the room service menu and was pleased to see the Ritz promoting such a great local team. Check out the price…”Market Price,” clever.

When we got up in the morning the snowy weather was replaced with sunshine and blue skies. The river was a sparkling blue color and the what were once snow covered cars below were now bright shades of color lined in a row. Cleveland was glowing and ready to take on a new day.

I enjoyed a cafe latte, a bit of oatmeal and the New York Times as an indulgent treat. Did you know the Ritz also has it’s own magazine? It is a gorgeous publication complete with insightful travel editorial and imagery.

We took one last walk around Tower City and then it was time to head home. The feeling of being “away” for one night was both indulgent and refreshing. It was so neat to be a tourist in our own city. The excitement of the Cleveland International Film Festival had taken over downtown and we were thrilled to be part of the fun.

As I mentioned before, the entire staff at The Ritz Carlton went above and beyond to make us feel at home. They truly provided a world class experience even if we were just staying downtown for one night.

After arriving home, it seems like we had been away forever in the best way possible. We were rested, relaxed and excited to be back in our own little part of the world. If you ever need a vacation but have just a day or so, I recommend a visit to The Ritz for an overnight escape one will never forget.

Happy Monday everybody. Looks like it’s gonna be a great spring weather week!

One Response to The Ritz Carlton Staycation

Charity! This is the most glam staycation ever! I’m jealous I didn’t think of it first ;) JPC and I will have to plan one when the time is right :) It looks like you two had a super luxurious weekend. So fantastic!